Women in Stem

Picture this: 

Last week, you, a female individual, turned in your organic chemistry exam confidently. You studied hard, you took every step to be successful, and this exam score was going to prove it. You honestly looked forward to the return of this exam, because you expected nothing less than great of yourself.

But that day in class, your male professor returns your exam to you at the end of class. Your heart sinks as you notice the poor score circled in red on the front. You ask yourself, "What happened? What did I do wrong?" After class, your male friend approaches you, asking what you got. You notice his high score on his test, asking if you can compare your answers to which he agrees. Upon comparison, you notice your answers are essentially identical, it's almost the same test all in all, but you were still docked points. But why?

The next day, you enter your professors office, asking about your score. "You did this wrong." Is all he says. But Bobby had the exact same answer, you claim. "Girls just aren't very good at chemistry. I can't help you." 

Girls aren't very good at chemistry.
Girls aren't very good at math. 
Girl's don't make good engineers. 
Girl's shouldn't work in STEM, go for an English degree. Girls are good at that. 

This is just a fraction of the kinds of things girls are told as they grow up. When did working in science become only a thing guys can do?

The lack of women in STEM is a long-standing and persist issue. Statistically, women make up half of the total U.S. educated work force, but almost half of that amount are women in STEM. More often times than not, it is because of the tension of gender norms that pushes young girls away from pursuing science as an option. Girls early on are exposed to the idea that they will never be able to outcompete their male counterparts in the field of STEM, which leads to the decline of girls that continue to persist through. This is often referred to as a 'leaky pipeline' effect, where girls more often will not pursue a career in STEM and will instead pursue a path where they are more positively reinforced and will not have to fight as hard. We can probably all agree, isn't it much better to hear, "You're so good at this," or, "Great job!" Rather than, "Girls just aren'y very good at this."

If you look at the real numbers, girls really aren't that much less or greater than boys at anything. Studies show that males and females tend to have roughly the same IQ score, as well as obtain roughly the same grades in classes focused in STEM. Although, in the last 30 years girls have actually been shown to represent the highest in students labeled 'mathematically gifted'. If these are the numbers, why do we continue to persist as if it's any differently?  Biology is not destiny.

In 2016, Hidden Figures hit theaters, showing that women are just as capable as men. Throughout history, it was also men highlighted in the work done at NASA. Men built the spaceships, men did the launches, men were the ones going into space. But what Hidden Figures showed was that in fact women, played a key a pivotal role in the planning and executing of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions of getting man into space. This was a large showcase, on the big screen, of what it means to push the social and gender norms. What was originally a man's project, and a credit to man, actually was thanks to women in STEM. Thank you Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson for paving the way and showing that a woman is just as good at this job as a man could be.

When performance in tasks are analyzed, boys tend to perform better on tasks using spatial orientation and visualization and on certain quantitative tasks that rely on those skills, often useful for STEM careers. Girls outperform boys on tests relying on verbal skills, especially writing, as well as some tests involving memory and perceptual speed. In this aspect, boys will outperform girls when it comes to skills applied to STEM based careers. But if you look at women in history, such as Katherine Johnson or Florence Siebert, the impossible is truly possible. These women, and many others, marked the first of many, and if they can do it, why can't the young girl in her middle school biology class? Or even the college student taking organic chemistry?

Truth be told, regardless of what anyone may say, science says there really is no 'smarter gender'. Each gender tends to perform better in some aspects than the other, but either is capable of a strong career in STEM. Therefore, we should work to remove the stigma that girls aren't good at math, can't do well in chemistry, and anything else. If the numbers prove this, why do we continue to act as if a girl is just as capable as working in a lab as a boy? Girls can be scientists too, and we should be encouraging that in and out of the classroom because it is time to close the gender gap in STEM careers.

To the young girl in biology, chemistry, engineering, or computer class: you matter, and you can do it. You can do whatever you want to do, whatever 'it' may be. You are not any better, or any less, than any boy in your class and you will be successful. You may not think like a boy, but you think like a girl and that's incredible. I believe in you, even if no one else does.